Today the director of Varna International and I drove from Venice to the Tuscany region of Italy. Our goal was to organize a wine tasting tour for the musicians that will be performing throughout Italy next summer.

We arrived to Florence and immediately set out for Chianti—not the bottle of wine but the region! Situated between Florence and Siena, there is a wine producing area in Tuscany called Greve in Chianti.

Many people are familiar with the variety of wine called Chianti, but what they fail to realize is that it comes from an area called Chianti.

Besides the breathtaking countryside, which is studded with medieval castles and villas, many wine cellars that offer wine tasting can be found.

One of the most exciting sites for me is the Museum of Wine located in the center of the city.

Settled by the Etruscans and later owned by the Romans, the city became a monastic settlement in the 11th century—and there is a logical reason why!

Chianti wine dates back to about the 14th century, while viticulture dates back to the Etruscans in the 8th century BC and then onto the Roman period.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, monasteries carried on the tradition of wine production, which was later passed onto aristocrats and merchants.

Chianti was first white and, then red.

Italian explorer of North America, Giovanni da Verrazzano, also comes from Greve in Chianti.